


Confessions

by Marz_Attag



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2020-01-04 16:27:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18347375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marz_Attag/pseuds/Marz_Attag
Summary: Set After 1x14 - Mentions of the MergePenelope Park does everything for a reason even if it means breaking her heart in the process.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, this is my very first attempt at writing. I really loved Penelope Park and wanted to better understand her motives behind her actions. Hope you like it. Oh, and English is not my first language so sorry in advance for any mistakes.
> 
> Thank you for your comments and kudos. Since you asked for more of this story, I added a new chapter, so I had to rearrange the first one. There's more angst but if you stick till the end, your heart will be rewarded !

After arriving in Belgium, Penelope had contacted Caroline Forbes and offered to help her in her quest to finding a solution to the Merge.

 

Of course, Caroline was not pleased and declined her offer, but Penelope managed to wear her down and she, albeit reluctantly, agreed to let the young witch help her but only during school breaks and on some weekends.

 

At first, all Penelope got to do was read dusty old books for any reference to the Gemini coven or the Merge trying to dig some information about that ancient curse. After a while Caroline agreed to let Penelope come with her when she met with witches and warlocks since Penelope’s natural charm and knowledge of witchcraft were proving to be invaluable.

 

They were driving to the east of Belgium in a small village near the German borders to meet with an old coven of witches they hoped could help them understand the origin of the curse. It was Penelope’s idea that in order to find a loophole they would need to first discover who had cast the curse on the Gemini twins and why.

 

They were currently at a gas station for much needed snacks and a bathroom stop for Penelope.

 

The phone rang and Caroline saw that it was her girls calling. Penelope was still inside the gas station, so Caroline accepted the call.

 

“Hi girls!” She said a big smile on her face.

 

“Hi mom!” The twins answered with one voice.

 

“To what do you I owe this pleasure my darlings? Didn’t your father told you I was going to call you tomorrow? “

 

“He did.” said Lizzie, « but we wanted to talk to you now”, added Josie. “He told us you had been following a new lead and we wanted to make sure you were ok.”

 

“That’s sweet of you girls, but I’m fine. No unnecessary risks taken, so don’t fret about me.” Caroline tried to reassure her daughters. 

 

“We were thinking about that actually, and we don’t want you going on these meetings alone Mom. It could be dangerous.” continued Josie.

 

“Girls, I’m one step ahead of you!” Exclaimed Caroline. “I have a young apprentice with me to make sure everything’s fine. Now, are you excited about coming to see me next month in Paris?” continued Caroline hoping to distract her daughters, but Josie was apparently not going to make it that easy for her.

 

“Who?”  interrupted Josie

 

“What darling?” asked Caroline feigning ignorance. She could see Penelope walking back to the car and she had a feeling that her young “apprentice” would not be happy about this conversation.

 

“Who is this apprentice?” enunciated Josie. By the way she asked her question, Caroline was certain she already knew the answer.

 

Penelope opened her door and paused when she heard Josie’s voice from the loudspeaker.

 

“Just someone I met here and who knows a lot about witchcraft” explained Caroline in a soothing voice. Caroline shot Penelope an apologetic look.

 

 “Who is it Mom?” insisted Josie.

 

“Josie, why do you want to know? asked Caroline just as Lizzie could be heard asking her sister “What difference does it make?”

 

“Mom, you promised no more secrets.”

 

Caroline looked at Penelope who was shooting her a panicked look and mouthing the word “No”.

 

“Penelope Park” revealed Caroline

 

Both Caroline and Penelope heard Josie’s sharp intake of breath at hearing her ex-girlfriend’s name.

 

Caroline knew her daughter needed a few seconds to regain control, so she answered some unasked questions.

 

“She contacted me a few weeks ago and told me how she got to know about the Merge and offered to help me. I wasn’t too kin on the idea at first, but she was quite adamant about it and I have to say that her knowledge of witchcraft has come in handy.”

 

Penelope sat back on her seat and closed the passenger door trying to regain her breathing.

 

“She’s with me in the car right now and she can hear you if you wish to speak to her.” Caroline added softly. She turned towards Penelope who was looking at her with wide eyes. Ah young love thought the vampire. She could sense that Penelope was on the verge of a panic attack, but she had to admit she was also curious about the real reasons behind Penelope’s insistence to help. She was grateful for the young witch’s dedication to helping both her daughters, but she couldn’t help but feel that Penelope hadn’t told her everything.

 

“Penelope?”

 

“Uhm, hi Jojo.” Said Penelope her voice cracking.

 

There was the sound of a sob on the other side of the call before Josie said “Don’t you “Hi Jojo” me! Is that why you left?  To find my mother and help her with the Merge? Why not tell me?” asked Josie raising her voice with each question.

 

Penelope was shaking her head even though she knew her ex-girlfriend couldn’t see her. “My mother really did get offered a job in Belgium and I really needed to put some space between us, and I’m learning a lot more about my magic in my new school” tried to soothe Penelope hoping that Josie would not push for more.

 

But alas, Josie wasn’t too kin on stepping down today.

 

“I have so many questions, and guess what Penelope, it’s my lucky day, because you’ll give me real answers for once since you are sitting in a car with a vampire who can compel you to answer truthfully and who I haven’t completely forgiven for keeping the Merge a secret. So, what do you think she’ll do if I ask her to compel you?” asked Josie in a sweet but terrifying voice.

 

Penelope didn’t have to look at Caroline to see the look of pity the vampire was throwing her. “Ok, ok. What do you want to know?”  

 

“Why use the pens? Why spy on everyone at school?”

 

“Well, as you may remember, I like to be in control.” Said Penelope her cheeks reddening.

 

There was a beat on the other side of the phone, before Josie cleared her throat and shoot her another question that had been plaguing her mind since her ex-girlfriend’s departure: “When did you learn about the Merge?”

 

“A month before I broke up with you. As soon as I saw what your dad wrote about the Merge, I started looking for answers in the books in the library, only to find that all the pages referring to the Merge had been cut out. And that really freaked me out. So, I asked some of the oldest witches of my coven and one of them had heard about a curse cast upon the twins born in the Gemini Coven. A “battle of will” she called it where only one twin would survive. But I couldn’t find much else. Based on what I knew, I made some assumptions. If the Merge really was about one’s will to live, with you being so deep into the co-dependency rabbit hole, I knew you’d never try to win. And talking to you about it only led to arguments, so I broke up with you and hoped you would blame Lizzie and maybe start to realize that you had to be your own person. I also tried to make Lizzie realize that she had to stop depending so much on you.”

 

“Oh please, do you think I’m stupid? Because that doesn’t explain half the things you did, and I know you do everything on purpose.” Exclaimed Josie, before asking her mother to compel Penelope.

 

“No need for that Mrs. Forbes. Please. At first, I thought that since you’re siphoners, the surviving twin would need to siphon more magic than the other in order to be stronger, so I started learning more about my magic and how to make it grow, like how to put my magic into objects. You told me yourself, the pen you siphoned from held enough magic to levitate an elephant and that was before I knew about the Merge. I’m even better at that now!”

 

“That’s why you suddenly started spending all that time holed up in the library studying?”

 

“Well, that and also because you liked « nerd-me », so yeah.” Responded a blushing Penelope.

 

“I started putting my magic into different objects for you to siphon from if needed. But since I couldn’t tell you about it, I used places and objects you were likely to touch, like that window nook you like to sit on and read on the second floor, or the table you usually sit on in the library, or that painting you like in front of your father’s office.”

 

“But why go out of your way to make me hate you? And you said that you wanted to grow more powerful, what for?”

 

Caroline could hear that the girl’s heart beat was going wild again. Tears were running from her eyes as she pleaded with her daughter that there was nothing more behind her actions, but Caroline knew that they both needed to have that conversation.  

 

“Penelope. Why would you go out of your way to make me hate you?” repeated Josie, voice firm despite the tears that her mother could sense were falling from her eyes too.

 

Penelope took a deep breath and wiped out her tears. “I didn’t know how much magic you would need, what if siphoning from an object wasn’t enough? Then you’d need to siphon directly from someone powerful enough.”

 

“You thought I would siphon from you? In a battle for my life? That could kill you! How could you think that was a good idea?”

 

Lizzie who had stayed quiet spoke up “Unless, it was someone you hated, someone who broke your heart into a million pieces ?!”

 

“No!? Penelope, please tell me that’s not what you wanted to do!”

 

Caroline didn’t need to hear Penelope’s answer to know that that was exactly what the girl sitting next to her planned on doing if needed.

 

“I thought that if you hated me you wouldn’t think twice about siphoning all my magic from me...”

 

“You… Penelope Park… are… an idiot!”

 

“What-excuse me for loving you! What was I supposed to do? Wait around for you to die?” Asked a currently very pissed Penelope.

 

“I knew that the moment you’d learn about the Merge you’d convince yourself to stand down. And I couldn’t bear the thought of you not even fighting for your life! Until I could find a way to make sure you would both stay alive, I had to think of a way to at least keep you alive Josie. I had to be the one to break you. Even if it meant you’d hate me. Even if it meant breaking my own heart. At first, I hoped you’d fight for us… for me… but you didn’t. There was only pain, but hating me made you alive, so I threw oil to the fire whenever I could. But that didn’t seem to make a difference either, and I didn’t know what to do to prevent you from dying, so when my mom told me about Belgium and the all-witches school, I thought it would do both of us good.”

 

Lizzie spoke again “Why are you so certain that Josie’s the one who’s going to die? I’m the broken one, I’m the weaker twin.”

 

Caroline gasped “No one is dying girls!”

 

“Because I saw it happen!” cried Penelope. Caroline turned to look at her an incredulous look on her face.

 

“My coven’s symbol is the Raven, commonly associated with those who can travel between the world of the living and the dead. When I learned about the Merge, I asked the Raven to show me what would happen to Josie. It’s basically a projection of one’s death based on the present. Each new action happening in the present can change that projection. Every time I did something, I’d ask the Raven to show me your projection.”

 

Penelope lets out an exhale and wipes the tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’ve watched you die a dozen times. And I can’t... My heart can’t take it anymore.”

 

She shakes her head, before speaking again, voice hoarse and unsteady. “And I didn’t want you to know any of this, because I didn’t want you to think you owed me anything. Because you don’t Josie. You don’t owe me anything. I broke you, and I broke me and I broke us, and I know right now is not right for us.”

 

When Josie speaks again, her voice is small. “I love you Penelope. I promise you that I’m going to become my own person and start living my life. But I need you to promise me you’ll do the same. You don’t need to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders Penelope.”

 

“Josie…”

 

“Promise me you’ll live your life for you.”

 

“I promise Jojo. I love you”

 

“I love you too Penelope. See you when the time’s right.”


	2. The Raven spell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the phone call, Penelope thinks back to the Raven spell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your comments and kudos ! It really warms my heart. What was originally going to be a one-shot is going to be a bit longer. Though this chapter is full on angst...  
> There's going to be a third chapter with the time jump + a bonus scene !

After ending the phone call, Penelope lets her tears run free in an unbroken stream drenching her shirt. 

She doesn’t hold back. 

She is done hiding away from her feelings and putting on Oscar worthy acting performances pretending to be okay when in reality her world is burning down.

She had promised her mother to allow herself to feel and stop hiding her emotions.   
Upon understanding what the Merge really meant for the Saltzman twins, Penelope had performed her coven’s Raven spell. 

This powerful and complex spell was not to be used lightly. But nothing could stop Penelope from knowing how Josie’s death was to happen hopping for some insights.

It was reckless and stupid of her to explore the realms of death. 

After witnessing for the first time Josie’s body fall to the ground any flickers of life stolen away by death. By Lizzie. Something had snapped inside of her. When her knees had hit the floor, her throat let go something between a sob and a shout, “fight dammit! Please Josie, just fight!”. 

 

She used the Raven spell after their breakup. She used it after the elections. She used the Raven spell again after their kiss on the twin’s birthday. She used it after every push and pull interaction she had with the twins. 

She used it so often she had trouble discerning what was real any more. 

Hate began to infiltrate her heart. Sadness and sorrow were slowly taking root inside of her.

Her mother could sense something was off. She asked her to come home for a weekend ahead of spring break. 

She told her she loved her and opened her arms waiting for her. 

Penelope who felt as though she had been walking over a chasm on a narrow plank for the past months, reveled in her mother’s embrace and let herself come undone.

She told her mother everything she had done. About the pens. About the Merge. About the Raven spell. About the growing despair she felt. About losing her sanity.

And when she didn’t have anything other to confess, her mother told her about a job offer she had gotten in Europe. She told her about the all-witch school in Belgium where she could learn more about her magic. And how it could be a way for her to process her thoughts and feelings. 

 

And so here she was, sitting in a car crying unabashedly about a girl in front of her mother. 

After a while, when her tears have subsided, Caroline Forbes starts the car and they drive in silence.

“I read somewhere,” says Caroline her voice soft, “that ravens mate for life.”

It takes Penelope some time to understand the underlying meaning of the vampire’s random comment, “Guess you’re stuck with me then.”

“Guess we are, dear.”


	3. The right time

Penelope continued helping Caroline and a few months short of the twins’ 22nd birthday, they finally found a loophole to the Gemini curse. 

On the twins’ birthday, when Caroline calls her and tells her it really worked and that both Lizzie and Josie are alive, she feels like a weight has been lifted from her shoulders. 

That’s when she really starts living her life, for her, like she promised Josie she would. 

 

She’s 25 now. She’s a photographer, she travels around the world, she has friends, real friends she goes out on dates, she falls in and out of love, … She’s really living!

She’s in New York for the Fashion Week. She just finished a photoshoot and is in a serious need for a coffee. A real coffee though, so she walks towards what that italian model she just shot claimed to have the best macchiato in this side of the Atlantic. The 10 min walk is totally worth it when her nostrils are invaded by an aroma that transports her in Rome.

She doesn’t know why but she feels all giddy when she enters the small café. She feels like she’s on top of the world and she has to roll her eyes to herself because it’s just a coffee for crying out loud, but when the barista turns around to greet her, her breath catches in her throat.

“Penelope?”

“Jojo?”

9 years have passed since they last saw each other, but everything seems to snap back into place, and she can’t wait to fall in love with her again.

“Please tell me now’s the right time?”

Josie tilts her head to the side and lets a small laugh pass her lips, “It’s… perfect.”

 

******

It’s a beautiful day. 

She’s 28 and it’s her wedding day. 

She finally understands what being deliriously happy means. Happy as a clam? Over the moon? On top of the world? None of these idioms accurately describe what she’s really feeling.

Every little detail about this day finds is engraved in her heart.

 

The preparation.

Her standing at the altar, waiting. Not nervous, just eager. Impatient? Desirous?

Seeing her true love walking down the aisle towards her. Swinging. Smiling at her. Checking her out and mouthing “Cool outfit” eyebrow raised (you can’t go wrong with a white tailored cape jumpsuit!). she wanted to say something equally smooth but only managed to nod a dopey smile on her face. 

 

Their vows. Their kiss. Everyone congratulating them. 

 

And now, the party.

 

Being Josette Saltzman-Park’s wife makes her feel like she’s on top of the world. On cloud nine? In seventh heaven?

 

Words cannot describe what she’s feeling right now. 

 

Which is funny, since she always had a knack for words. But right now, dancing with her wife, words are not important.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and commenting and leaving kudos ! Hope you enjoyed this story.


End file.
